The present disclosure relates to a parking brake for a wheelchair, which has a rod-shaped brake element that acts on one of the rear wheels of the wheelchair, and a locking lever, wherein both the brake element and the locking lever can rotate on a mount attached to part of the wheelchair frame and act together so as to move the brake element from the braking position to the released position and vice versa whenever the locking lever is moved, the brake element being more or less parallel to the axis of the rear wheel in the braking position and approximately perpendicular to it in the released position.